ueen Letizia of Spain welcomed Dr. Jill Biden, the First Lady of The United States of America, at the Royal Palace of Zarzuela in Madrid. It’s Dr. Biden’s first official visit to Spain. Dr. Jill is accompanying her husband, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. who is in Spain to attend the 32nd NATO Summit.
The NATO Summit will be held at the IFEMA Fairgrounds in Madrid between June 29 and 30. Around 40 heads of State and Government, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of Spain’s accession to the Treaty Organization of the North Atlantic will be attending the summit. Among the attendees will be the 30 allied countries, four invited Asia-Pacific countries (Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea), four other member countries of the European Union but not of the Alliance, as well as the heads of the Commission Union and the European Council.
After the welcome and media photographs, Queen Letizia and Dr. Jill Biden held a brief meeting before heading for their first joint engagement in Spain – a visit to the Headquarters of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) in Madrid to learn about the multidisciplinary and comprehensive work of the Association to tackle cancer from prevention and early detection and learn about international collaboration in cancer research.
Queen Letizia is the Honorary President of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) and its Scientific foundation. During the visit, Dr. Jill Biden was shown various facilities and projects being carried out by AECC.
The Spanish Association Against Cancer has been the reference entity in the fight against cancer for 68 years. It dedicates its efforts to showing the reality of cancer in Spain, detecting areas for improvement, and launching a process of social transformation that allows them to be corrected in order to obtain a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to cancer.
The Association integrates patients, family members, volunteers, and professionals who work together to prevent, raise awareness, accompany affected people, and finance cancer research projects that will allow better diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Structured in 52 Provincial Headquarters, and present in more than 2,000 Spanish towns, it has almost 30,000 volunteers, more than 500,000 members, and almost 1,000 professionals.
One of the projects shown during this visit was the cognitive stimulation workshop. Attention, concentration, and memory can be temporarily affected during cancer treatments, which is known as the “chemobrain” phenomenon. This workshop not only helps patients understand the cognitive changes that may occur during treatment but also provides them with tools to improve these alterations. Another of the projects highlighted during the visit was the oncology physical exercise unit for patients, whose objective is to improve the health and quality of life of sick people. This unit works under professional supervision, carrying out an initial assessment of the person, including treatment side effects, to design an “ad hoc” exercise program adapted to the possibilities of each patient.
Cancer research projects between the two countries were another of the topics highlighted at the event, especially the incorporation of the Association into the “Cancer Grand Challenges”, a global funding initiative founded by the Cancer Institute of the United States and Cancer Research UK, where research teams come together to focus and drive progress differently to tackle the big challenges of cancer.
For the visit, Queen Letizia debuted a new brand – José Hidalgo. Thanks to Nuria for the id.
Queen Letizia wore a custom piece based on José Hidalgo’s Gitanas dress. Letizia’s dress features a mid-length, boat neckline and short cap sleeves, and all-over white polka dots on a black base.
Letizia paired the dress with her black Carolina Herrera slingback pumps.
She was wearing her small diamond studs from Australian pearls
and a Karen Hallam ring.